“Government of India, Ministry of Civil Aviation has allowed passengers travelling from Ukraine to travel by transit under India-Qatar bilateral air bubble arrangement.”
— Indian Embassy in Qatar said on Twitter
Civilian flights will take a long time to restart from Ukraine. Keeping that in mind, the Indian government said that Indian passengers from Ukraine could return via Qatar.
Currently 20,000 Indians, mostly students, are stranded in Ukraine. Since the Ukrainian airspace remains closed, it is still not known how these students will travel from Ukraine to Qatar to take Qatar-India flights, which are operating normally.
The Indian Embassy in Qatar said on Twitter, “Government of India, Ministry of Civil Aviation has allowed passengers travelling from Ukraine to travel by transit under India-Qatar bilateral air bubble arrangement.” Indicating that the passengers coming from Ukraine to Qatar will be able to board flights operating between Qatar and India.
An Air India plane that took off for Kyiv in Ukraine on Thursday morning to bring back Indians from the Eastern European nation returned to Delhi due to the immediate closure of Ukrainian airspace.
On February 19, Air India announced that it would operate three flights between India and Ukraine on February 22, 24 and 26
Soon after the Air India flight left Delhi on Thursday morning, the Ukranian authorities issued a NOTAM (notice to airmen) on Thursday morning stating that civilian flights within Ukraine “are restricted due to potential hazard for civil aviation”.
Air India and the central government then decided to call the plane back to Delhi. Air India’s Thursday flight was scheduled to be the second flight to bring back Indians from the Eastern European nation. The first flight, operated on February 22, brought back around 240 people. On February 19, Air India announced that it would operate three flights between India and Ukraine on February 22, 24 and 26.
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